literature

To Heal a Fainn, part 2

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Aubrey cried herself to sleep that afternoon, falling into a deep morose slumber.  She dreamed she was in a beautiful garden.  It seemed to her like a manicured version of the Long Wild.  An incredibly wild creature approached her, almost blinding in her dazzling white glow.  As the figure came closer, Aubrey saw that it was a Fainn.  An Archfainn, to be precise – she was fully covered in beautiful white rae, pure and deep as fresh snow.  Her eyes shone a silver-white, and her long alabaster locks fell well past her feet, blanketing the ground behind her for yards.  Wildflowers bloomed instantly over every scrap of earth it touched.

“Hello, scion,” the woman smiled. 

A warm, loving feeling washed over Aubrey, soothing her soul.  She wiped away a tear.  “Where are we?” she asked, looking around.  “Who are you?”

“This is Eden, as it was during my care of it,” the woman replied, holding her hands up in reference to their surroundings.

“Then you… you’re…”

The woman nodded.  “Trust your Fainn instincts, young one.”

“Eve?”

Eve smiled.  “And you are Aubrey,” she curtsied as she spoke, holding her alabaster locks out in her hands in place of a dress.  "What a lovely name.  Did you know it means Lady of the elves?"  Eve suddenly stood before her and lightly touched one of Aubrey's long ears.  "How appropriate, given your heritage.  Your father named you well."

"My father?" Aubrey looked puzzled.  Her eyes fell on Eve's arm and the luxuriant rae covering it.  “The legends in the Long Wild tell that you were shorn to humanity by Lilith.”  She reached out and felt the woman's arm.  Her fingers quickly disappeared into the woman's fur.  It was beyond silky, and Aubrey could feel the wonderful life-giving force it contained.  All the beauty and miracle of Life itself echoed in her soul.  They both smiled blissfully at one another.  Then Aubrey felt a sudden terrible sadness.  She ran her hand down one of Eve's heavy silken locks.  “Did she really take all this from you?”

Eve nodded solemnly.  “Indeed.  And like you, I was tricked to believe I was doing it for love.”

“Then how are you restored?  The legends end with you raising your Fainn son Abel with Adam, cursed to remain a human.”

Eve smiled again.  “Being surrounded by the people I loved the most was hardly a curse.  And what you're seeing now is merely a dream.”

Aubrey dropped to the ground, crestfallen.  "For a moment, seeing you like this, I thought maybe you had found a way to grow back your rae and become whole again."

"All I said was that this is merely a dream.  I never said I didn't regain my fainnhood."

Aubrey looked up.  Her mouth opened wide in shock.  “How?”

“Love, Aubrey.  Pure, full, unconditional love, shared with another.  Adam’s love for me, and my love for him, were able to rekindle in me what I thought was lost forever.”  She turned to Aubrey and ran a hand along her arm.  “It can do the same for you.  In fact, the Long Wild needs you in full raement.  A new threat is coming from far off, and only an Archfainn can hope to stop it.”

“But I attained Archfainnhood already,” Aubrey glowered.  “And I lost it.”

“What you felt with the witch’s apprentice was merely lust disguising itself as love, which it does often.  It was a tragic thing to see you ascend to Archfainnhood under such circumstances, only to lose it moments later.  But true love can restore you still.  Let it find you.”  Eve began to walk away, her long flowing silver-white hair trailing majestically behind her.

“Wait!  If you’re still alive, why aren’t you in the Wild?  Why haven’t you shown yourself?”  Aubrey tried to chase the haunting figure down, but Eve seemed to always be walking faster, even as Aubrey broke into a run.


She awoke with a start.  She saw that a single bed lamp was on.  A moment later, a wonderfully soothing feeling washed over her, causing her scalp to tingle.  She turned and saw Caroline reverently brushing out her long copper hair by the meager light of the lamp.  The ionic brush thrummed softly in her hand.

Aubrey immediately sat up and opened her mouth to yell at the presumptuous doctor, but then she saw her hair.  It fell in mighty, impossibly soft waves, crashing and falling over the bed and onto the floor.  Whatever that brush was, Caroline was using it to make her hair so incredibly full and lush, it made Cheryl's treatments seem paltry in comparison.

“Yell at me if you must, but this hair of yours needed some care, and it was a crime not to use such a wonderful tool on such amazing locks.”  Caroline kept her gaze on her task, gently stroking through a section of what had become a mighty flood of hair.

The feel of the brush and Caroline's deft, doting fingers through her locks was elating.  She was overwhelmed by the sight of her long hair so beautifully cared for, and in such lovely condition.  “You wanted to help me so badly you were going to brush out my hair while I slept to work out tangles?”

Caroline looked up at Aubrey.  “I’ve wanted to help you, care for you and nurture you since the moment I saw you.  I’ve never witnessed such an ethereal, delicate beauty as yours in my life.  I never imagined it could be possible.  But here you are, in my hospital.  I’ll die before I let you wither away.  And to be honest, I'm not doing this just to brush out tangles.”  She blushed.  "I was dying to play with your gorgeous hair."

Aubrey held her hand over her mouth and sobbed.  Not in sorrow, but in joy.  She reached over to the doctor and hugged her tightly.  Caroline held her hands over Aubrey’s back, but hesitated.  “It’s ok,” Aubrey whispered.  “You have my permission.”

Caroline ran her hands over Aubrey’s back, finally taking in the feel of the girl’s soft rae.  “Heaven help me,” she muttered, running her hands through the soft fleece.

Aubrey felt a familiar tingle again, deep and faint within her soul.  Her spark was still there, sputtering but alive.  The part of her that was still Fainn was stirring.  This time it felt different.  Less fiery and intense, but more real.  More whole.  Like coming home after being away for countless harrowing eons, and finding it exactly the way you needed it to be. 

“Aubrey,” Caroline said softly.  That voice.  So kind, so caring, yet so keen.  So wonderful.  “Would you like me to brush your rae as well?”

Aubrey pulled back from the hug, slowly, and bashfully looked down at the bed sheets.  She slowly nodded, her cheeks flushing, and lowered her sheets.

Caroline began cautiously, ever slowly, but worked her way over what remained of the auburn girl’s fur.  “I know it’s mostly ruined,” Aubrey said sadly as Caroline gently brushed her arm, gingerly avoiding the shaved areas.  “You should have seen it before all this.”

“I think it looks divine,” Caroline quietly cooed.  “You don't know how lucky you are to have such a beautiful feature.  And I look forward to seeing it fully restored soon, when I finally figure out how to heal you.  You called yourself a wolf girl before, which was cute, but didn't do you justice.  Between your reddish soft coat and your big beautiful tail of hair, you're more like a fox girl.  A real vixen.”

Aubrey smiled.  "You know, I kind of like the sound of that."  She looked up at the gentle young woman’s face and again took note of her enormous amber updo.  Feeling suddenly feisty, she reached up quickly and pulled the single hairstick loose.  Caroline gasped, but only watched over her shoulder as her golden hair came spilling down, billowing open all around her.  The soft honey-colored locks blanketed the remaining portions of the bed that Aubrey’s own impressive mane hadn’t, and still fell further, drenching the floor in flaxen waves.

“Oh my god!  Your hair is so beautiful!” Aubrey ran a hand through it gently.  

Caroline’s eyes closed and her mouth curled into a grin.  “Mmm,” she purred.  “I know it’s not as beautiful as yours or Cheryl’s,” she added with a bit of self-consciousness.

“What are you talking about?  This is amazing!  It must be even longer than mine!" Aubrey thought a bit.  Cheryl's hair was magically enhanced and mostly uncuttable.  It grew by magic.  Caroline on the other hand had no such power.   "You grew this all on your own, didn’t you?”

“Well, I did experiment on myself a bit as I was developing my serums, but yes.  I get teased a lot for it since it’s gotten so long, but I haven’t worked up the courage to cut it back yet.”

Aubrey grabbed the ionic brush and began gently running it through Caroline’s locks.  The soft tendrils responded instantly, becoming both more smooth, shiny and fluffy all at once.  “Don’t you dare cut your hair, Caroline.”

Caroline giggled.  “Thank you for the… complimatum…?” her eyes narrowed as she smiled at Aubrey.  “But I might have to sooner or later.  The hospital board has been nagging me more and more about it, and has even threatened my position as chief physician here over it.  And the people in town keep reminding me I’ll never be like Cheryl whenever I wear it down.  It’s getting tiring being treated like I’m living in her shadow, like some pathetic wannabe.”

Aubrey was in heaven, watching this amazing golden cascade ripple and shine before her eyes.  “Caroline, I think I like your hair better than Cheryl’s.  So what if hers is longer?  Yours is yours and the fact that you’ve kept it so long even with all that ridiculously unwarranted flak makes it all the more special of an achievement.  You can't just cut it off!  I’m serious, Doctor.  If you cut your hair, I’ll never speak to you again.”

Caroline laughed and shook her head, sending the gleaming falls dancing and billowing around her.  “Well I won’t say I’m not flattered, but what makes you any better than the others?  They’re pushing me to cut my hair, and you’re threatening me not to.”

Aubrey leaned in toward the other girl’s face and spoke in confidence.  “Because I can see how you feel about it.  A woman's hair doesn't get this long by accident.  You haven’t cut it yet because you don’t want to.  I want you to keep it for you.”  Aubrey’s eyes searched Caroline’s for a moment.  Was this what Eve had been mentioning?  Her heart still hurt, but this felt like such a salve for it.  Finally, she could no longer resist speaking the rest of her mind.  “And for me.  Now that I've seen how beautiful it is, I don't think I could handle seeing you without it.  It'd break what's left of my heart to see such incredible beauty ruined.  So let's make a deal.  You try and heal me, and I'll help you keep your ravishing golden hair.  You just tell me who I need to talk to.  I'll make them see the light,” she smiled devilishly.

Caroline's eyes pooled.  "No one's ever been in my corner like that about my hair.  Even Cheryl doesn't seem to really understand.  Thank you Aubrey.  How can I ever repay your kindness?"

"I think, it a way, we're even.  I could use a friend like you. Now, stand up, turn around, and let me see it all."

Caroline grinned sheepishly, turned and stood up.  Her hair blanketed her form, falling easily to the floor.  Aubrey unfolded the thick coils out along the tile to fully see the doctor's hair length.  Her hair was different than Aubrey's.  Finer and silkier, it fell like a great cloak of gossamer around her.  Even though each strand was finer than Aubrey's, there were seemingly more of them, keeping it very thick.  Caroline was barely taller than Aubrey, but her hair stretched almost two feet out over the polished linoleum floor.  Aubrey's hair in comparison barely laid a foot on the floor when she stood. 

She wasted no time, gently running the brush through her friend's magnificent golden tresses.  "I can't believe you were seriously going to cut this.  I wouldn't ever understand voluntarily parting with such a beautiful feature.  Caroline, it's in such great condition, you clearly care deeply for it."

Caroline could scarcely speak, she was so overwhelmed by Aubrey's positivity.  "I do love it, more than I can say.  But we have to make hard choices in life.  Having all this hair will do me no good if I'm fired and can't feed myself.  And I'd feel so guilty letting my vanity result in this island's sick and injured go untreated.  That wouldn't be fair."

Aubrey stood up and spun Caroline to face her.  "You listen to me," she said firmly.  "The only thing I'm hearing that's unfair is that there are people making you think you need to make that choice.  Your hair doesn't impede your work or performance.  On the other hand, it probably centers you and keeps you feeling like yourself.  Don't let them push you around, Caroline!  You're strong, beautiful, super smart and totally fine the way you are.  You keep your hair on your terms!  I meant what I said - if you cave and sacrifice all your beautiful hair, I'm out.  I can't be around someone who would throw all this away." she ran her hands through the doctor's honey-colored waves.  "If you want to keep me around, keep true to yourself.  Keep your hair long and lovely.  Promise me!"

Caroline smiled and giggled.  "Aubrey," she fanned her eyes.  "I'm overwhelmed!  Ok, I promise you.  I won't cut my hair.  But what did you mean by keeping you around?"

Aubrey turned away, blushing.  "We're friends now, right?  That's all..." she shuffled her feet nervously.
Aubrey's road to recovery continues as she receives some reassuring visits.  Might it actually be possible for her to save her faltering fainnhood?

Caroline and Cheryl are Ultimateportalmaster's.

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DangerCurl's avatar
Kiss, kiss, kiss-- er, I mean great story!!